Display fixture



Jan. 10, 1967 H. w. PATTEYRSON DISPLAY FIXTURE Filed March 29, 1965 Z! 14 n-lrwu H R0 2 w# m v r wk m w A W4 m 4 M r J United States Patent Ofiiice 3,297,290 Patented Jan. 19, 196'? 3,297,290 DISPLAY FIXTURE Herman W. Patterson, 7209 W. 65th St, Overland Park, K238. 66202 Filed Mar. 29, 1965, Ser. No. 443,309 1 Claim. (Cl. 248223) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in display fixtures, and has particular reference to a display fixture especially adapted for use in self-service stores such as supermarkets, drugstores and the like wherein goods for sale are commonly displayed on shelves from which they are selected and removed by the customers themselves.

It is well known that when a customer is faced with extensive and numerous shelves all filled with goods in brightly colored packaging, it is often difficult and frustrating for him to find the particular item for which he is looking, and he is not likely to notice a new product, or a product upon which the management is conducting a special sale or the like. It is therefore considered desirable by most store operators to have available display fixtures extending outwardly from the general face of the bank of shelves, on which may be mounted either placards carrying price tags, sale notices, as advertised-notices or the like referring to goods on the associated shelves, or in some cases carrying the goods them selves if said goods are sufficiently small in size and light in weight, the projection of the fixture away from the shelf serving as a very effective device for attracting the attention of passersby. Various display fixtures of this general type have heretofore been proposed, but all of them within my knowledge have had various objectionable characteristics, such for example as being too costly for widespread use, difiicult or tedious to aifix to the shelves, or to move from shelf to shelf when desired, or of having only an insecure or ineffective mounting means so as to become detached inadvertently, or to be incapable of supporting sufficient weight, or of obstructing the surface of the shelf so as to inhibit the placing of goods thereon.

Accordingly, the objects of the present invention include the provision of a display fixture of the general type described which is adapted to be mounted in and sup ported solely by the price-tag molding with which display shelves are commonly equipped, so as not to overlap or obstruct the surface of the shelf itself, which may be formed of a single length of spring wire, which may be very rapidly, easily and conveniently engaged in or disengaged from said price-tag molding, and in which the weight of the displayed articles supported thereby have no tendency to disengage it from the molding.

Other objects are extreme simplicity and economy of construction, efficiency and dependability of operation, and adaptability for use in a wide variety of applications.

With these objects in view, as well as other objects which will appear in the course of the specification, reference Will be had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a sec-tion of pricetag molding having a display fixture embodying the present invention mounted operatively therein, and displayed articles supported by said fixture,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 11-11 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 2, but with the displayed articles omitted, and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line IVIV of FIG. 3.

Like reference numerals apply to similar parts throughout the several views, and the numeral 2 applies to a fragmentary showing or" the outer edge portion of a display shelf such as is commonly employed in stores. Afiixed to the edge of said shelf, and extending longitudinally therealong, is a price-tag molding indicated generally by the numeral 4. Said molding is of uniform cross-sectional contour, being formed of extruded aluminum or the like, and has the form 'of a shallow, forwardly opening channel providing, at the forward face thereof, a downwardly Opening upper groove 6 and an upward opening lower groove 8. In its ordinary usage, said molding is adapted to receive and hold placards, not shown, carrying prices or other information, said placards being formed of flexible sheet material and having a vertical height corresponding to the linear :height of the curved internal rear wall 10 of the channel. Such a placard is inserted by bowing it about a horizontal axis to engage its upper and lower edges respectively in grooves 6 and 8, and then snapping it rearwardly to lie against wall 10. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the channel usually also extends above the top surface of shelf 2, whereby to provide a low retaining wall preventing goods carried on the shelf from sliding off of the forward edge thereof.

The display fixture constituting the subject matter of the present invention is indicated generally by the numeral 12, and is formed of a single length of spring steel wire. It includes a loop portion 14 which is planar and of generally C-shaped configuration, and a generally straight portion 16 extending angularly to the plane of the loop portion. The loop portion 14 is adapted to be engaged in grooves 6 and 8 of molding 4 as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, while straight portion 16 extends forwardly from the molding to form an arm from which articles to be displayed may be suspended. As an example of such articles, FIGS. 1 and 2 show a plurality of packets or envelopes 18 such as are commonly employed for packaging dry, powdered or granular material, each of said packets having an eyelet or grommet 20 for engagement on fixture arm 16 or other support.

FIG. 4 best shows the details of the shape of loop portion 14 of the fixture, which is an important feature of the present invention. Said loop is adapted to be engaged in the grooves 6 and 8 of molding 4, and is essentially planar in form, being of greater than degrees in angular extent. At one end thereof, the end thereof to be engaged in upper molding groove 6, the loop has a reentrant V-formation 22, the apex angle 24 of which is directed toward the center of curvature of the loop, whereby the loop wire engages in molding groove 6 only at the extreme ends of the V-formation, or .at the points 26 and 28. The formation 22 could obviously also be arcuate, or of other form than V-shaped, so long as it engages groove 6 only at its ends. The remainder of loop 14 is substantially arcuately curved as shown, and engages in molding groove 8 in spaced relation from its opposite end, or at the point 30. The loop extends arcuately past point 30, whereby it is again elevated above the base of groove 8 at least above the lip 34 of the molding which forms groove 8. The wire is then bent forwardly, as at 32, to form arm 16, said arm being thereby disposed just above said lip. The outer end portion of arm 16 is formed in a closed loop 36, or any other desired configuration, whereby to form an upward enlargement preventing accidental dislodgment or removal of packets 18 or the like from said arm. Preferably, as illustrated in FIG. 3, bend 32 is formed so that when not loaded arm 16 inclines slightly upwardly toward its outer end, in order that it may sup port at least a normal load before it is flexed downwardly to a generally horizontal position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

To insert the fixture in the molding, the V-formation 22 of the fixture is first inserted behind the lip 38 of the molding which defines groove 6, so that points 26 and 28 of the fixture are engaged in groove 6. Then the arm 16 is grasped adjacent bend 32 and pressed upwardly,

thereby resiliently compressing the loop 14 until point 30 of the fixture can pass inwardly over the edge of molding lip 34 and into groove 8. The loop is then released and allowed to expand into groove 8, and the fixture is fully mounted. It is removed by simply reversing the insertion process just described.

Thus it will be apparent that the display fixture just described has several advantages. For example, while it is formed entirely of a single length of spring wire, it will be readily seen that no amount of load on downward pressure on arm 16 can have any tendency to compress or otherwise dislodge loop 14 from grooves 6 and 8. This advantage results from the fact that the base or root portion of arm 16, when said arm is pressed downwardly to any abnormal degree, rests directly on molding lip 34, and hence can have no tendency to rotate the loop 14 in its own plane. Also, the loop is firmly held against rotation in its plane, or other displacement, by the fact that the line of upward pressure exerted on the loop at point 30 lies between the lines of downward pressure exerted on the loop at points 26 and 28. This three-point or triangular support, so long as all of the angles of the triangle defined by points 26, 28, and 30 are acute angles, is highly conducive to stability and rigidity of support, and provides good resistance to rotation of the loop in its plane. Also, when the fixture is being inserted in or removed from the molding as described above, as accom panied by upward pressure on the loop at 32, it is important that point 32 be disposed between vertical lines passing through points 26 and 28, in order to preserve the three-point support and resist any tendency of the loop to rotate in its plane. Such rotation could leave point 28 and the arcuate portion of the loop fully engaged in grooves 6 and 8 even when the loop was substantially compressed, and render the fixture tedious and difficult to insert or remove. By placing points 30 and 32 respectively at opposite sides of a vertical line bisecting a line between points 26 and 28, but still between vertical lines passing through points 26 and 28, as shown, it is possible to provide the vertical oifset between points 30 and 32, which is required for arm 16 to clear the upper edge of molding lip 34, by a simple continuation of the arcuate portion of the loop from point 30 to point 32. This is a distinct advantage in manufacture, since it requires fewer and less complicated bends of the wire.

While I have shown and described a specific embodiment of my invention, it will be readily apparent that many minor changes of structure and operation could be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claim.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A display fixture for use in connection with a horizontal, channel-shaped molding having confronting, spaced apart upper and lower grooves at the forward face thereof defined by opposed lip portions of said molding, said display fixture comprising a length of spring wire formed to present a planar, generally C-shaped loop portion operable by resilient compression thereof to have diametrically opposite portions thereof engaged respectively in said upper and lower grooves, and an arm portion extending from one end of said loop transversely to the plane of said loop whereby to project outwardly from said molding between the lips thereof, said loop being generally arcuately curved except that the end portion thereof engageable in said upper groove, and opposite to that from which said arm extends, is formed with a reentrant bend, the extreme ends of said re-entrant bend defining spaced apart points of contact of said loop with said upper groove, and the point of contact of said loop with said lower groove being defined at the point of tangency with said loop at a point diametrically opposite said re-entrant bend of a line parallel to a line connecting the extreme ends of said re-entrant bend portion, said last defined contact point, as well as the end of said loop from which said arm extends, both being disposed between a pair of lines drawn respectively throughthe points of contact of said re-entrant bend portion and at right angles to a line interconnecting said points, said arm being connected to said loop immediately above the lip defining said lower groove.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,941,321 6/1960 Wood 4011 3,071,880 1/1963 Taub 40ll 3,202,293 8/1965 Franklin 248302 CLAUDE A. LEROY, Primary Examiner.

J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

